How to Extend the Life of Handmade Soap
Between my blog and my business, Milk & Honey Naturals, I get dozens of letters a day. They range from any and every subject: what are shampoo bars, what are conditioner bars, how to use solid hair care products, how to make your own social icon buttons, how to cook an enormous turkey - a huge range.
One of many that have found their way into my inbox regularly, is how to extend the life of natural solid products {solid shampoo, solid conditioner, handmade soaps, shave bars, etc…}. There are a few tips and tricks that can greatly extend the amount of uses you will get out of your natural solid products, that I’ve learned over the past decade or so…
Using a Proper Soap Dish
A slotted wooden soap dish will soak up extra moisture and allow air to circulate around all of your natural solid products. Especially with natural soaps, it can greatly increase the amount of uses. The air circulation allows the bar to harden completely between uses, instead of staying softer on the side that lies flat, which can cause natural solid products to disintegrate faster.
Avoid Water Flow
Keep your bars out of areas where there is direct water flow. For some odd reason, most shower and bath areas are designed with the soap ledge right in direct water flow. I have no idea whose great design that was, but again, water sitting around will decrease the life of solid natural products. A good general rule of thumb - keep it high and keep it dry.
Split em’ Up
A pretty common problem is handmade soap being used quicker in high usage areas, like the bar you keep by the kitchen sink. The bar doesn't have time to completely re-harden between uses. There is, however, a cure for that too.
Take your soap bars and cut them either in half, or in quarters. Leave a half or a quarter by the sink to use. This way while you are using one, the other pieces are hard and ready to go. You will find that they last much, much longer. You can also do the same thing for your solid soaps and shampoo bars in the shower.
You can even take it a step further, and switch out the half/quarter with a fresh piece in the middle of the day. I personally have half bars of soap by 4 sinks in my home on slotted wooden soap dishes. If I find that I’m obsessively using the bar by the kitchen sink on a given day, I’ll just take that bad boy and switch it out with a completely different handmade soap and dish from another room. Voila! The bar can re-harden completely and I have a fresh hard piece of soap toabuse use.
One of many that have found their way into my inbox regularly, is how to extend the life of natural solid products {solid shampoo, solid conditioner, handmade soaps, shave bars, etc…}. There are a few tips and tricks that can greatly extend the amount of uses you will get out of your natural solid products, that I’ve learned over the past decade or so…
Using a Proper Soap Dish
A slotted wooden soap dish will soak up extra moisture and allow air to circulate around all of your natural solid products. Especially with natural soaps, it can greatly increase the amount of uses. The air circulation allows the bar to harden completely between uses, instead of staying softer on the side that lies flat, which can cause natural solid products to disintegrate faster.
Avoid Water Flow
Keep your bars out of areas where there is direct water flow. For some odd reason, most shower and bath areas are designed with the soap ledge right in direct water flow. I have no idea whose great design that was, but again, water sitting around will decrease the life of solid natural products. A good general rule of thumb - keep it high and keep it dry.
Split em’ Up
A pretty common problem is handmade soap being used quicker in high usage areas, like the bar you keep by the kitchen sink. The bar doesn't have time to completely re-harden between uses. There is, however, a cure for that too.
Take your soap bars and cut them either in half, or in quarters. Leave a half or a quarter by the sink to use. This way while you are using one, the other pieces are hard and ready to go. You will find that they last much, much longer. You can also do the same thing for your solid soaps and shampoo bars in the shower.
You can even take it a step further, and switch out the half/quarter with a fresh piece in the middle of the day. I personally have half bars of soap by 4 sinks in my home on slotted wooden soap dishes. If I find that I’m obsessively using the bar by the kitchen sink on a given day, I’ll just take that bad boy and switch it out with a completely different handmade soap and dish from another room. Voila! The bar can re-harden completely and I have a fresh hard piece of soap to
So there you have it! Some new tips and tricks for your natural products.
HAPPY SOAPING.
